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Posts Tagged ‘chayote’

Chayote Part Two – Roasted Chayote

Posted by terrepruitt on October 30, 2019

As I said in Chayote Part One, I roasted the chayote just like I do all my veggies, although with this one, since I had gloves on I decided to put it in a bowl and toss it with the seasoning.  Usually I put the veggies on the baking sheet and just sprinkle the oil and seasonings on.  When I think of using a bowl I think of tossing with my hands and I never want to get oil all over my hands.  I used gloves to protect my hands from the corrosive enzyme PLUS the spikes.  I was able to hold the fruit-vegetable and cut it.  The gloves “protected” my hands from the oil when I tossed it all together.  So here is what I did.

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three spiky chayote
salt
balsamic vinegar
olive oil
Season All

Preheat the oven to 450° F.

USING GLOVES cut the ends off the spiky chayote, then cut it in half at the point of the seed.  Get out ALL of the seed.   Then use the knife to carefully slice off the spiky skin.  Salt the entire skinless fruit – letting it set a minute.   Then rinse each half off. Then slice it.

Put the sliced fruit in a bowl and sprinkle with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and seasoned salt.  Mix the seasoned fruit well, making sure it is coated with the vinegar, oil, and seasoned salt.  Then spread the slices out on a parchment lined baking sheet, making one layer.

Put it in the oven.  After about 18 minutes take it out and turn over each piece.  Then put it back in the oven for anywhere from 15 to 20 minutes – depending on how you like your chayote cooked.

Then serve.

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Because the video I watched stated that the enzyme was bitter and I didn’t do what it said to take it out, I was afraid it would be very bitter so I salted it first.  I also used balsamic vinegar to try to cut down on the bitterness.  There was NO bitterness at all.  In fact, all I actually tasted was the seasoned salt.  I didn’t get any flavor from the fruit at all.  The texture was nice.  Really if I didn’t know what it was I might have just said it was a turnip or parsnip.

Because of the benefits touted I surely wouldn’t mind eating this regularly.  I have never seen it in a store – but then again, maybe I have and just shrugged and walked away.  I would have never known what to do with a spiky green thing.  I just happen to be lucky enough to have been gifted three in order to try something new.

How have you cooked chayote?  What seasonings do you like on it?

 

 

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit, SJCityFit, City of San Jose Exercise Classes, Cambrian Yoga & Cardio Dance, CYCD, Yin Yoga

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit, SJCityFit, City of San Jose Exercise Classes, Cambrian Yoga & Cardio Dance, CYCD, Yin Yoga

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit, SJCityFit, City of San Jose Exercise Classes, Cambrian Yoga & Cardio Dance, CYCD, Yin Yoga

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit, SJCityFit, City of San Jose Exercise Classes, Cambrian Yoga & Cardio Dance, CYCD, Yin Yoga

Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Chayote Part One

Posted by terrepruitt on October 28, 2019

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit, SJCityFit, City of San Jose Exercise Classes, Cambrian Yoga & Cardio Dance, CYCD, Yin YogaMy husband texted me from work one day and said he was bringing home a vegetable called a Chayote. I had never heard of it so I had to look it up. The information on the internet said it was actually a fruit, but eaten like a vegetable. What I saw said it didn’t need to be peeled and could be boiled, steamed, fried, roasted, baked, mashed, sliced, diced, and even eaten raw. But the chayote the internet was referring to didn’t have spikes. The ones my husband brought home had spikes. So it was recommended that we cut off the spikes and peel it before cooking. I am sure it will come as no surprise to anyone that I roasted it. I roasted it just like I do all the veggies! But what may come as a surprise to you . . . as it sure did to me was that it ate my flesh!

Ok, so that might be a bit dramatic, but . . . as usual I didn’t take a lot of time researching it. I looked it up quickly and saw that, as I said, the internet says it is a fruit eaten like a vegetable. The initial search return was showing it as a squash. So – squash, it can easily be peeled cut up and cooked. Well, I was forgetting that it is a fruit. So, my plan to quickly wash, peel, slice, and stick it in the oven on time bake before I left for class was quickly SQUASHED after I cut the ends off and sliced it in half. IT HAD A SEED.

ALSO, it was slippery as heck. I couldn’t actually hold the outside of it as it was spiky and my attempt to use my vegetable peeler failed. So I was trying to hold it on the exposed flesh. My first thought was that it would cook up slimy like okra because it was so slippery!

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit, SJCityFit, City of San Jose Exercise Classes, Cambrian Yoga & Cardio Dance, CYCD, Yin YogaSo I googled something – I don’t even remember what because I was in such a hurry. The result came back with some video of some guy saying to cut one end off (ok, too late for that) then he used the portion that he cut off to rub the fruit at the cut end which produced some foaming stuff. He said you needed to do that for a few minutes to pull out the enzyme that makes it bitter. I tried that, but I think I could not get the same result because I had already cut it in half, so I was trying to rub the exposed part. Remember, I had been treating it like SQUASH because I had seen it called squash.

I had to use a knife to peel the skin off and by this time I was using a towel to hold it because it was so spiky and slippery.  I ran out of time, I had to leave to teach my yoga class so I only managed to peel one. I put them in a bag and then in the fridge to deal with when I got home.

As I was getting ready to go to class I noticed my fingers were peeling. They were the same as when I use peroxide without gloves. They were cracked, dry, and rough. I decided I had better use gloves when I was handling those things. Looking it up now, FoodUniversity.com says that it contains an enzyme that could cause your hands to peel when eaten in large quantities. Well, I think that just handling it will do that.

So on my second go at this wily fruit I wore gloves. I tried to cut it in half using the seed as a guide, so cutting on the outside edge of the seed. Then I used a knife to cut the skin off. Then I sliced it.

The internet says it has a lot of nutritional benefits!

Have you ever had chayote?

Posted in Food, Vegetables | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | 28 Comments »